Historicist: VE Day

<b>Front page, <i>Toronto Star</i>, May 7, 1945.</b><br><br />
Inside the <i>Star</i>, lengthy accounts described how word of the Allied victory in Europe spread around the city that morning. A sample: “About 9:45 the streets began to fill with people. Traffic was crawling. Auto horns and street car bells added to the general confusion. At 10 o’clock the real truth began to dawn on many more. The word had spread around. ‘They will take a little time to warm up, but wait until they get going,’ said a city hall official. Noise and confusion was steadily growing. More and more streams of people flooded out of buildings on to the street. Traffic is now about at a standstill on Bay St south of Queen St.”<br />

<b>Front page, the <i>Telegram</i>, May 7, 1945.</b><br><br />
Just after 9 a.m., Mayor Robert Saunders rushed out of [Old] City Hall to CFRB, where he delivered the city’s official announcement. “We should offer up thanks to Almighty God for the victory that is ours, and for saving us through the dark days of 1940 and since,” he said during his radio address. “It is our hope that the people of this city will find themselves in church today.” Saunders had a warning for potential troublemakers: “I give these people warning that our police department will be ready and will not tolerate nor permit any malicious damage to property.”

<b>Advertisement, <i>Toronto Star</i>, May 7, 1945.</b><br><br />
During his radio address, Mayor Saunders revealed the City’s preferred method of crowd control. “It is our hope,” he noted, “that the citizens will not seek to come downtown but take advantage of the community celebrations arranged in Toronto parks in their own district. Bands will be in attendance and plenty of entertainment has been arranged by business groups and service men’s clubs. We have publicized the agenda and you will be given notice by the leaflets from the sky. Remember, stay away from downtown Toronto.” Saunders then declared the following day would be a public holiday whose major civic event would be a religious service in front of City Hall. <br />

<b>The <i>Telegram</i>, May 7, 1945. </b><br><br />
As traffic downtown ground to a halt, crowds broke into song. Among the tunes heard: “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KRc-ceWE2E">Roll Out the Barrel</a>,” “Victory Polka,” and ‘There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Town of Berlin.” Elsewhere in the city, the <i>Telegram</i> noticed that “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWcb9N9gRZo">Pistol Packin’ Mama</a>” was popular among impromptu marching bands.<br />

<b>Advertisement, <i>Toronto Star</i>, May 7, 1945. </b><br><br />
Many downtown stores closed within minutes of the official announcement. Once lingering customers departed, large retailers like Eaton’s wouldn’t reopen for two days. Some retailers barricaded their windows or removed valuables from window displays in case looting broke out. Movie theatres undertook similar precautions; at Shea’s Hippodrome (now the southeast corner of Nathan Phillips Square), staff remove lounge furniture and covered up the organ. Most theatres decided not to run newsreels depicting Nazi atrocities , though a few lower-grade cinemas ran sensationalistic fare about recently deceased Nazis.

<b>The <i>Telegram</i>, May 9, 1945.</b><br><br />
Word also quickly spread throughout school rooms across the city. At the University of Toronto, students like Ruth Shykoff were writing final exams. “In addition to the examination anxiety we were all abuzz with the knowledge that the war in Europe was done,” she noted in a letter to historian Martin Gilbert decades later. When the announcement was made, Shykoff’s professor dismissed the students. “The enthusiastic joy was dampened by tears,” she later observed. “Many of us had lost brothers and other family members in the European ‘theatre,’ and many of us still had loved ones in the Pacific. Most of us had been in high school since September 1939, when Canada first went to war, and although we were never in personal danger from the hostilities, every one of us was profoundly affected by the world news. We all joined the celebrating throngs singing and dancing and crying in downtown Toronto—then each of us joined family members in our homes—to rejoice and mourn.”<br />

<b><i>Toronto Star</i>, May 7, 1945.</b><br><br />
City Hall was a popular gathering spot. Elsewhere downtown, four army and RCAF sound trucks were swarmed by revellers at King and Yonge. As promised, leaflets were dropped by Mosquito planes, but mingled with piles of ticker tape tossed from office buildings. At Queen’s Park, an effigy of Adolf Hitler made by employees of the provincial Department of Labour was hauled out, tied to a stake, and burned amid cheers from other civil servants.

<b>The <i>Telegram</i>, May 7, 1945. </b><br><br />
Free food was part of the festivities. Among those handing out goodies was the owner of a Bay Street diner who handed out large pieces of chocolate cake to female office workers. “Many of them who pushed their way through the mob to get the cake wandered off up the street, carrying it, waving flags and shouting,” the <i>Telegram</i> reported. “None ate the cake in the first two blocks of their happy, noisy progress toward the City Hall.”<br />

Among those who travelled downtown to celebrate was 16-year old Bette Mulvihill, whose memories of the joy she felt from others were among the stories collected in Ted Barris’s book <i>Days of Victory</i>: “Yonge Street was a sea of humanity. You went in whatever direction the crowd was moving because you simply couldn’t go any other way. We rode on the streetcars for free all evening. Everyone was kissing and hugging. It didn’t matter that they were total strangers. We were one huge family—filled with terrific excitement and a great relief that the war was over at last.”

<b>Front page, <i>Globe and Mail</i>, May 8, 1945.</b><br><br />
In war plants around Toronto, factory whistles announced victory. While some workers immediately dropped their tools, other facilities, especially those supplying forces in the Pacific, stayed open the rest of the day. For example, the announcement of the German surrender over a loudspeaker at the Inglis factory in present-day Liberty Village was followed by a plea to employees to stay at work, then the playing of “God Save the King.” <br />

<b>Editorial cartoon, <i>Toronto Star</i>, May 7, 1945.</b><br><br />
When VE Day was declared, around 4,000 troops paraded at Stanley Barracks for a memorial service to fallen comrades. They were then placed on leave for two days. At HMCS York, recruiting and training carried on. In the military wing of Toronto East General Hospital, injured soldiers learned the news from a radio at the bedside of Private Joseph Boyer. Nurses then wheeled him outside on a stretcher to see the reaction of East Yorkers. The Adelaide Street Active Service Canteen was opened to the public as one of the few places one could find a meal downtown over both days of celebrations. <br />

<b>The <i>Telegram</i>, May 9, 1945. </b><br><br />
Burning Axis leaders in effigy proved popular across the region. From factory workers in Scarborough to a crowd of 3,000 gathered in downtown Oakville, many stuffed Hitlers met a fiery end. <br />

<b>The <i>Telegram</i>, May 9, 1945. </b><br><br />
Large celebrations were organized at local parks. Around 30,000 showed up for festivities in Riverdale Park which include prayers, singing, and vaudeville acts. Christie Pits drew injured veterans from the nearby Christie Street Hospital, and bratty youths who tried to sing the lyrics of “Roll Out the Barrel” to the strains of “Onward, Christian Soldiers.” Eglinton Avenue was closed by Oriole Parkway for a giant street dance. <br />

<b>Advertisement, <i>Globe and Mail</i>, May 8, 1945.</b><br><br />
A sampling of the planned celebrations at Sunnyside, mixing the saucy, the silly, and the solemn. Overall, city officials were proud of the behaviour of Torontonians, especially compared to the <a href="http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ve-day-riots/">VE Day riots which broke out in Halifax</a>. “Our object in staging shows in the parks was to keep the people from congregating downtown,” noted Mayor Robert Saunders, “where they would have gone for sure if there was nothing else for them to do. Everything went like clockwork and our object was fully achieved. I tender my hearty thanks to the citizens of Toronto for the orderly and sensible way they acted.”<br />

<b><i>Toronto Star</i>, May 9, 1945.</b><br><br />
The main event on May 8 was the official VE Day memorial service at the cenotaph outside City Hall. The crowd joined in the many anthems, hymns, and prayers led by seven local clergymen. A 21-gun salute was made. Ontario premier George Drew announced that flags on all provincial buildings would fly at half-mast for the rest of the week. <br />

<b>The <i>Telegram</i>, May 9, 1945. </b><br><br />
Mayor Robert Saunders asked attendees to “dedicate your lives so that the future of this country and this city may be the future they hoped for. Let us dedicate ourselves to the care of their widows and orphans. In this day of victory, let us never forget the dead or the ones they loved.” After he laid a wreath on the cenotaph, “The Last Post” was played. Two minutes of silence followed. <br />

<b>The <i>Telegram</i>, May 9, 1945. </b><br><br />
On a lighter note, the baseball Maple Leafs played a doubleheader at <a href="http://torontoist.com/2015/04/historicist-opening-day-at-maple-leaf-stadium/">Maple Leaf Stadium</a> against the Syracuse Chiefs. Both games saw the home team come from behind to win; during the second match, they recovered from a five-run deficit. Other distractions at local entertainment venues included a rodeo-style revue headlined by singing cowboy Roy Rogers at Maple Leaf Gardens and a performance of the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Ormandy">Eugene Ormondy</a> at Massey Hall. <br />

<b>Editorial cartoon, the <i>Telegram</i>, May 10, 1945.</b><br><br />
While the war was over in Europe, it was still going in Asia and the Pacific. Not until late summer would Torontonians celebrate the final end to the Second World War.<br />

The morning headline of the Globe and Mail on Monday, May 7, 1945, reflected the sense of anticipation sweeping across Toronto: “WAR END MATTER OF HOURS.” Within an hour of the German surrender at 8:41 p.m. Eastern Time the night before, the first baby born at St. Michael’s Hospital was named after the feeling in the air: Victor.

When the official end of hostilities in Europe was announced at 9:36 a.m. on May 7, Torontonians spilled out into the city’s streets. After six years of fighting, it was time to party and reflect on those who wouldn’t be joining the celebrations.

Enter the gallery for images and stories of how VE Day unfolded in our city.

Additional material from The Day the War Ended by Martin Gilbert (London: HarperCollins, 1995); Days of Victory by Ted Barris (Toronto: Thomas Allen Publishers, 2005); the May 7, 1945, May 8, 1945, and May 9, 1945 editions of the Globe and Mail; the May 7, 1945 and May 9, 1945 editions of the Toronto Star; and the May 7, 1945 and May 9, 1945 editions of the Telegram.

Every Saturday, Historicist looks back at the events, places, and characters that have shaped Toronto into the city we know today.